Low-Power Activation of Accessory in Sleep State

ABSTRACT

A first device is configured to establish a connection over a short-range communication link with a second device. The first device may transition to a sleep state, terminate (i) a paging operation and a page scanning operation associated with a paging protocol and (ii) an advertisement scanning operation associated with an advertisement protocol and perform an advertisement broadcast operation associated with the advertisement protocol, the advertisement broadcast operation generating an advertisement to be broadcast at a first interval, wherein the first interval is greater than a second interval for performing advertisement broadcast operations in an active state.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

A short-range communication protocol enables a short-range communicationto be exchanged between two or more devices. The short-range connectionmay be established manually or automatically. The manual approach mayenable more control in establishing the link and may only causeconnection operations to be used when activated. However, the manualapproach may be time consuming. The automated approach may be more timeefficient and require little or no input, which may provide an improveduser experience. However, the automated approach may perform connectionoperations at predetermined times, potentially utilizing an increasedamount of power from a limited power supply. To further improve theautomated approach, a detection protocol may be used based on, forexample a Bluetooth configuration including a paging protocol and anadvertisement protocol.

Once the short-range communication link is established, a first devicemay exchange data with a second device. For example, the first devicemay be a source device that provides audio data to the second device.The second device may receive the audio data and generate an audiooutput that is played on an audio component of the second device. Theshort-range communication link may be maintained until the user selectsto discontinue use. For example, when the second device is an audiooutput component such as earbuds or an earpiece that is worn, the usermay remove the second device (e.g., removing from the ears, removingfrom the head, etc.). The short-range communication link may no longerbe used for data exchanges other than control data exchanges. In thismanner, the second device may be placed into a low-power state such as asleep state.

The sleep state may enable the second device to conserve power bymodifying the manner in which certain operations are performed. However,as noted above, the automated approach may be maintained where theconnection operations continue to be performed. For example, to providethe improved user experience, the automated approach may continue sothat the short-range communication link may be re-established at anytime that the user selects to resume use of the second device. However,when the automated approach is used during the sleep state, the seconddevice will continue to draw power for the connection operationsincluding the paging protocol and the advertisement protocol. Thus, evenwhen the sleep state is maintained for longer durations, the seconddevice continues to draw power from a limited power supply to performoperations related to the automated connection approach. When the seconddevice has stayed in the sleep state for a sufficient duration anddepending on a remaining power of the limited power supply, the seconddevice may drain the limited power supply so that the user must rechargethe second device before any use is to be resumed, thereby negativelyimpacting a user experience.

SUMMARY

In an exemplary embodiment, a method is performed by a first deviceconfigured to establish a connection over a short-range communicationlink with a second device. The method includes transitioning the firstdevice to a sleep state, terminating (i) a paging operation and a pagescanning operation associated with a paging protocol and (ii) anadvertisement scanning operation associated with an advertisementprotocol; and performing an advertisement broadcast operation associatedwith the advertisement protocol, the advertisement broadcast operationgenerating an advertisement to be broadcast at a first interval, whereinthe first interval is greater than a second interval for performingadvertisement broadcast operations in an active state.

In another exemplary embodiment, a first device configured to establisha connection via a short-range communication link with a second deviceis described. The first device has a transceiver and a processor. Thetransceiver is configured to establish the connection. The processor isconfigured to transition the first device to a sleep state, theprocessor instructing the transceiver to terminate (i) a pagingoperation and a page scanning operation associated with a pagingprotocol or (ii) an advertisement scanning operation associated with anadvertisement protocol and instructs the transceiver to perform anadvertisement broadcast operation associated with the advertisementprotocol, the advertisement broadcast operation generating anadvertisement to be broadcast at a first interval greater than a secondinterval for performing advertisement broadcast operations in an activestate.

In a still further exemplary embodiment, a method is performed by afirst device configured to establish a connection over a short-rangecommunication link with a second device. The method includestransitioning the first device from a sleep state to a non-sleep state,activating a page scanning operation associated with a paging protocolto listen for a page from the second device and updating anadvertisement broadcast operation associated with an advertisementprotocol, the advertisement broadcast operation generating anadvertisement to be broadcast at a first interval that is less than asecond interval for performing advertisement broadcast operations duringthe sleep state, wherein a paging operation associated with the pagingprotocol and an advertisement scanning operation associated with theadvertisement protocol remain inactive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example system of components utilizing short-rangecommunication links according to various exemplary embodiments describedherein.

FIG. 2 shows an example device for establishing a short-rangecommunication link according to various exemplary embodiments describedherein.

FIG. 3 shows an example signal diagram for disconnecting a short-rangecommunication link when entering a sleep state according to variousexemplary embodiments described herein.

FIG. 4 shows an example signal diagram for establishing a short-rangecommunication link when exiting a sleep state according to variousexemplary embodiments described herein.

FIG. 5 shows an example method for disconnecting a short-rangecommunication link when entering a sleep state according to variousexemplary embodiments described herein.

FIG. 6 shows an example method for establishing a short-rangecommunication link when exiting a sleep state according to variousexemplary embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference tothe following description and the appended drawings, wherein likeelements are referred to with the same reference numerals. The exemplaryembodiments describe devices, systems, and methods to reduce or minimizepower use while in a sleep state, e.g., when an automated approach isused to establish a short-range communication link. The exemplaryembodiments include a first aspect when the sleep state is identified,which defines how connection operations of the automated approach are tobe used while an accessory device is in the sleep state. The exemplaryembodiments also include a second aspect when the accessory devicetransitions to a wake state or a use state from the sleep state, whichtriggers further connection operations on the accessory device toautomatically establish the short-range communication link with a sourcedevice. In this manner, the exemplary embodiments provide mechanismswhereby a short-range communication link may be established in arelatively short amount of time when the accessory device is to be usedand conserves more power while the accessory device is in a low powerstate.

The exemplary embodiments are described herein with regard toestablishing a short-range communication link (or connection) where theshort-range communication link is a Bluetooth link. However, the use ofthe Bluetooth link is only exemplary and the Bluetooth link mayrepresent (or be replaced by) any short-range communication link.Furthermore, the use of a short-range communication link is also onlyexemplary and the exemplary embodiments may be used or modified for anytype of connection between two or more devices (e.g., a medium- orlong-range connection). The exemplary embodiments, as described herein,include an advertising scheme that relates to broadcasting anidentification (or identifier) and a scanning operation to detect thebroadcast identification/identifier. However, the use of this type ofadvertising scheme is only exemplary and the exemplary embodiments maybe used or modified for any lower power, fast detecting identificationscheme. The exemplary embodiments are described herein with regard tothe Bluetooth link being established between an accessory device and asource device. However, the use of this accessory and sourceconfiguration is only exemplary and the exemplary embodiments may beused or modified for any two or more devices that are to establish aconnection using the mechanism described herein. That is, there is norequirement that one of the devices be subordinate to the other device.The use of the terms source device and accessory device are only for theconvenience of distinguishing between the two devices in thisdescription. In addition, the exemplary embodiments are described hereinwith regard to a sleep state. However, the sleep state may represent anylower power state in which some or all of the device's capabilitiesand/or components are powered down or otherwise configured in a lowerpower consumption state than normal operation. In addition, a componentbeing powered down does not require that the component draws no power,only less than an amount of power that is drawn during normal, fullyoperational conditions. The exemplary embodiments are described withrespect to when a device is likely to be used. A likely use may relateto when information is assessed to determine a probability thatindicates a likelihood of the device being used.

Wireless communication systems and protocols are being developed tofurther increase the types of usage and the types of devices that may beconnected in this manner. One type of wireless communication system mayutilize a personal area network (“PAN”) that may be defined as acomputer network used for data transmission amongst a plurality ofdevices. For example, a PAN may be used for communications between thedevices themselves (e.g., interpersonal communication), or forconnecting one or more devices to a higher-level network and/or theInternet via an uplink, wherein one “master” (or primary) device mayassume the responsibility of performing the operations associated with arouter. Furthermore, a wireless PAN may be a network for interconnectingdevices using short-range wireless technologies, such as a Bluetoothprotocol.

Within the wireless PAN, certain applications or operations may beconsidered to use a relatively large amount of power, while others maybe considered to use a relatively low amount of power. Similarly,certain applications or operations may be considered to require arelatively large amount of time, while others may be considered torequire a relatively small amount of time. For example, with regard to aBluetooth connection, relatively speaking, a Bluetooth paging/page scanoperation may utilize both more power and more time than a Bluetoothadvertising scheme. The Bluetooth paging/page scan operations may bebased on the Bluetooth protocol that defines how the Bluetoothconnection operations are performed. The Bluetooth advertising schememay relate to a protocol in which low energy application profiles sendand receive short pieces of data over a low energy link. The profilesmay provide standards, which manufacturers follow to allow devices touse specific technologies, such as Bluetooth, in the intended manner.One such advertising scheme has been defined as Bluetooth low energy(hereinafter referred to as “BLE”) or “Bluetooth Smart” which is awireless PAN technology designed and marketed by the Bluetooth SpecialInterest Group, e.g., aimed at applications in the healthcare, fitness,location, beacon, security, and home entertainment industries. As notedabove, compared to Classic Bluetooth (or Bluetooth Classic) thatincludes the Bluetooth paging/page scan operations, BLE is intended toprovide considerably reduced power consumption and cost whilemaintaining a similar communication range as well as reducing a timeused by Bluetooth devices to identify proximity and capability ofestablishing a Bluetooth connection. However, even with the BLE protocolbeing used in the automated approach in establishing the Bluetooth link,particularly when a device is in a low power state, the Bluetooth pagescan operation as well as the BLE scanning operation are maintained toreceive any pages or advertisements, respectively, that may bebroadcast. As noted above, these operations may use more time and/orpower.

The exemplary embodiments are configured to reduce or minimize theamount of power drawn while an accessory device is in a sleep state. Aswill be described in further detail below, upon entering the sleepstate, the exemplary embodiments may terminate Bluetooth page and pagescan operations as well as BLE scanning operations and maintain only BLEadvertisement operations to detect source devices in a modified mannerwhere an increased interval is used. To exit the sleep state when a useof the accessory device is likely, the accessory device may receive arequest from a source device or detect the likely use of the accessorydevice. In confirming the source device as an allowed device, theaccessory device may initiate the Bluetooth paging and page scanoperations for the Bluetooth connection to be established. In removingthe Bluetooth paging and page scan operations as well as the BLEscanning operations upon the accessory device entering the sleep stateand modifying further connection operations, the radio on the accessorydevice may be used significantly less and allow for improved powerperformance.

FIG. 1 shows a system 100 of components utilizing short-rangecommunication links according to the exemplary embodiments. The system100 illustrates a possible network of short-range connections eitherbetween a source device 105 and a paired audio device 108 including aprimary audio bud 110 and a secondary audio bud 115 or between thesource device 105 and an audio device 135. The system 100 shows when theshort-range connections have been established between the source device105 and accessory devices (e.g., the paired audio device 108 or theaudio device 135). However, as the exemplary embodiments are directed todurations when the short-range communication link is not established andsubsequently establishing the short-range communication link, theillustrated short-range communication links may not be continuouslyactive. The paired audio device 108 may be a system that includes twountethered audio buds 110, 115, e.g., there is no wired connectionbetween the audio buds 110, 115, but they are designed to work inconjunction with each other. For example, the first audio bud 110 mayoutput the right channel of audio that is streamed from the sourcedevice 105 and the second audio bud may output the left channel of audiothat is streamed from the source device 105. As will be described ingreater detail below, when outputting data received from the sourcedevice 105, one of the audio buds will take on a primary role of havinga direct wireless connection with the source device 105 (e.g., theprimary audio bud 110), while the other audio bud will take on asecondary role of having an indirect wireless connection with the sourcedevice and a direct connection to the primary audio bud (e.g., thesecondary audio bud 115).

A first short-range communication link that may be established may bebetween the source device 105 and the primary audio bud 110 of thepaired audio device 108 via a source-to-audio bud (S2B) link 120. Asecond short-range communication link that may be established may bebetween the primary audio bud 110 and the secondary audio bud 115 in thepaired audio device 108 via an audio bud-to-audio bud (B2B) link 125.The secondary audio bud 115 may also be configured to perform aneavesdrop 130 (or snoop) on communications (e.g., data) being exchangedon the S2B link 120 or being broadcast/transmitted by the source device105. A third short-range communication link that may be established maybe between the source device 105 and the audio device 135 via asource-to-device (S2D) link 140. The S2D link 140 may be substantiallysimilar to the S2B link 120. The system 100 may also include furthershort-range communication links, such as between the source device 105and the secondary audio bud 115 (not shown). In some examples, theshort-range communication links may be Bluetooth connections.

Under conventional approaches (e.g., as defined by Classic Bluetoothprotocols), the S2B link 120 and/or the S2D link 140 may be establishedusing a manual approach in which a user manually selects a device. Forexample, when both the primary audio bud 110 and the audio device 135are available to the source device 105 to establish the short-rangecommunication link, the source device 105 may detect these devices anddisplay the devices in a list that allows the user to select one ofthese devices for connection. In contrast, the B2B link 125 may beestablished using an automated approach in which proximity detectionand/or the capability of establishing the B2B link 125 is constantlybeing performed (e.g., at predetermined intervals). As will be describedin detail below, the S2B link 120, the B2B link 125, and the S2D link140 may each be established using an automated approach according to theexemplary embodiments.

The source device 105 may be any electronic device capable ofestablishing the S2B link 120 and/or the S2D link 140. For example, thesource device 105 may be a mobile device (e.g., a mobile computingdevice, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a personal computer, a VoIPtelephone, a personal digital assistant, a wearable, a peripheral, anInternet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) or a stationary device (e.g., adesktop terminal, a server, an IoT device, etc.). The paired audiodevice 108, including the primary audio bud 110 and the secondary audiobud 115, may be any plurality of wireless audio output components usedtogether (e.g., ear buds). Specifically, the primary audio bud 110 andthe secondary audio bud 115 may be untethered to the source device 105as well as to each other. The audio device 135 may be any unitarywireless audio output component (e.g., wireless headphones, speakers,etc.). Specifically, the audio device 135 may be untethered to thesource device 105, but may utilize a tethered arrangement for aplurality of audio output sub-components. The use of audio relateddevices such as the audio buds and audio devices is only exemplary. Theexemplary embodiments may be used to establish a short-rangecommunication link between any type(s) of device(s). Thus, the primaryaudio bud 110, the secondary audio bud 115, and the audio device 135 mayrepresent any electronic device(s) including the above noted types forthe source device 105 as well as other types (e.g., an accessorydevice). For example, the primary audio bud 110, the secondary audio bud115, and the audio device 135 may also be Bluetooth-enabled hands-freeheadsets, wireless speakers, intercoms, fitness tracking devices,sensors, automobile sound systems, etc.

In the system 100, the source device 105 and either the primary audiobud 110 or the audio device 135 may have a master/slave (orprimary/secondary) relationship over the S2B link 120 or the S2D link140, respectively. Specifically, the source device 105 may be a mastercomponent while the primary audio bud 110 or the audio device 135 may bea slave component. Similarly, the primary audio bud 110 and thesecondary audio bud 115 may have a master/slave relationship over theB2B link 125. Specifically, the primary audio bud 110 may be a mastercomponent while the secondary audio bud 115 may be a slave component.However, the master/slave relationship is only exemplary. According toanother exemplary embodiment, the components connected via theshort-range communication links may have a mutual relationship (e.g.,peer to peer) where neither component has a priority (e.g., sharing anequal priority) or neither component has predetermined operations thatmust be performed (e.g., the predetermined operations may have shared orthe duty to perform may be shared). In yet another exemplary embodiment,the master/slave relationship may be dynamically set. For example, ifthe primary audio bud 110 is initially set as the master component whilethe secondary audio bud 115 is initially set as the slave component, butconditions change such that the secondary audio bud 115 maintains aconnection with the source device 105 or has a better short-rangeconnection to the source device 105, the secondary audio bud 115 maybecome the master component while the primary audio bud 115 may becomethe slave component. The system 100 may include one or more otherdevices that may also be present in any of the S2B link 120, the B2Blink 125, the S2D link 140, or another connection with any of thedevices of the system 100.

In establishing the short-range communications links (e.g., the S2B link120, the B2B link 125, or the S2D link 140), the source device 105, theprimary audio bud 110, the secondary audio bud 115, and the audio device135 may include the necessary hardware, software, and/or firmware toperform conventional operations as well as operations according to theexemplary embodiments. In addition, during periods when the primaryaudio bud 110, the secondary audio bud 115, and the audio device 135 arein a low power state, these components may include the necessaryhardware, software, and/or firmware for performing conventionaloperations as well as operations according to the exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 2 shows a device 200 for establishing a short-range communicationlink and performing operations used while in a low power state accordingto the exemplary embodiments (e.g., a Bluetooth paging operation, aBluetooth page scanning operation, a BLE advertisement operation, and aBLE scanning operation). The device 200 may represent any of the sourcedevice 105, the primary audio bud 110, the secondary audio bud 115, andthe audio device 135. Specifically, the device 200 may represent thecomponents that may be included to perform the conventional operationsand the operations according to the exemplary embodiments.

The device 200 may include a transceiver 205 connected to an antenna210, a baseband processor 215, and a controller 220, as well as othercomponents (not shown). The other components may include, for example, amemory, an application processor, a battery, ports to electricallyconnect the device 200 to other electronic devices, etc. The transceiver205 may be configured to exchange data over one or more connections.Specifically, the transceiver 205 may enable a short-range communicationlink to be established using frequencies or channels associated with theshort-range communication protocol (e.g., the channels associated with aBluetooth connection). The controller 220 may control the communicationfunctions of the transceiver 205 and the baseband processor 215. Inaddition, the controller 220 may also control non-communicationfunctions related to the other components, such as the memory, thebattery, etc. Accordingly, the controller 220 may perform operationsassociated with an applications processor.

The baseband processor 215 may be a chip compatible with a wirelesscommunication standard, such as Bluetooth. The baseband processor 215may be configured to execute a plurality of operations of the device200. For example, the operations may include the methods and operationsrelated to the exemplary embodiments where the short-range communicationlink is torn down when the device 200 enters a sleep state (or lowerpower/reduced power state) as well as a modified advertising scheme ordetection operations and the short-range communication link issubsequently established using the advertising scheme and performingcorresponding connection operations. Additionally, the transceiver 205may also be configured to execute a plurality of operations of thedevice 200. For example, the operations may include the methods andoperations related to the exemplary embodiments.

With regard to the primary audio bud 110, the secondary audio bud 115,and the audio device 135, these devices may include further components.As will be described in further detail below, there may be availableinformation that indicates when these devices are in use or are likelyto be used. Accordingly, these devices may be equipped with furthercomponents that generate or otherwise detect this information. Forexample, these devices may include sensors that may identify when thedevices are being used. In a particular example, the sensors mayindicate a relative orientation or position (e.g., relative to oneanother in the case of the paired audio device 108 or relative to theuser). When the sensors indicate that the device is, for example, in theuser's ears, mounted over the user's head, etc., the sensors maygenerate sensor data that is processed to indicate that the device isbeing used or likely to be used. In another example, the sensors may bemotion sensors. When the motion sensors detect motion from a motionlessstate, the motion sensors may generate motion sensor data that isprocessed to indicate that the user has moved (e.g., picked up) thedevice and is likely to use the device.

For illustrative purposes, the exemplary embodiments are describedherein with regard to the audio device 135. However, those skilled inthe art will appreciate that the description herein relates also to thepaired audio device 108 including the primary audio bud 110. When themechanism according to the exemplary embodiments includes furtheroperations when implemented with the paired audio device 108 in view ofthe secondary audio bud 115, a corresponding description will also beprovided.

Initially, the audio device 135 may be configured to be placed into oneof a plurality of states. For example, the states may include any/all ofa ship state, a hibernate state, a standby state, a sleep state, an idlestate, a ready state, and an active state. These states may be generallyseparated into different categories, e.g., according to a relative powerstate with respect to components used in establishing a connectiondrawing power. As will be described below, the ship state and thehibernate state may use a lowest power state, the standby state may usean intermediary power state relative to the hibernate state, the sleepstate may use a low power state, the idle state may use an intermediarypower state relative to the sleep state, and the ready state and theactive state may use a normal (or high/full) power state (e.g., whereall connection operations are in use).

The state may relate to when the audio device 135 is being shipped froma retailer to a user/purchaser of the product. Thus, the audio device135 including the radio (e.g., the transceiver 205) may be deactivated,thereby utilizing a lowest power state where no connection operationsare being used, including Bluetooth paging and page scan operations aswell as BLE advertisement and scanning operations. With regard to a userand a particular audio device 135, the ship state may be used only whenthe audio device 135 is being delivered to the user until a first use ofany kind is registered (e.g., charging operation, power-on operation,connection operation, etc.).

The hibernate state and the standby state may relate to when the audiodevice 135 is inside a storage case or otherwise put into a mode thatindicates the device will not be used imminently (if available). Thehibernate state may be used when the audio device 135 is inside thestorage case for a long period of time. Thus, the audio device 135 mayutilize a lowest power state substantially similar to the ship state, asthere is a low likelihood of the audio device 135 being used. In thisstate, the connection operations including the Bluetooth paging and pagescan operations as well as the BLE advertisement and scanning operationsare not used. The audio device 135 may exit the hibernate state andenter another state, e.g., the idle state (to be described below), whenthe audio device 135 is removed from the storage case. From theperspective of the user, placing the audio device 135 in the storagecase may ensure that the radio is deactivated.

The standby state may be when the audio device 135 is inside the storagecase or otherwise put into a mode that indicates the device will not beused for a relatively short period of time, e.g., when it is anticipatedthat the audio device 135 will be used within the next 1 minute, 5minutes, etc. Thus, the audio device 135 may have recently been placedinside the storage case. The last used power state may be retained for aperiod, as the audio device 135 may be removed from the storage casewithin that period. For example, the last used power state before beingplaced into the storage case may be the idle state. The last used powerstate may be transitioned to the standby state for a shorter term andsubsequently to the hibernate state for a longer term. Any time periodcan be used for transitioning from the standby state to the (e.g., atleast 1 minute, 5 minutes, etc.), but power savings may increase with afaster transition.

The sleep state and the idle state may relate to when the audio device135 has not been in use for a predetermined period of time. For example,the audio device 135 may be removed from a user's ears (e.g., in thecase of audio buds), removed from a user's head (e.g., in the case ofheadphones), etc. The sleep state may be entered after the audio device135 has not been in use for a relatively long period of time as comparedto the idle state, which may be entered after a shorter period of time.Thus, the audio device 135 may utilize a lower power state. In contrastto the lowest power state in which no connection operations areperformed, the lower power state according to the exemplary embodimentsmay utilize (or enable) select operations of the BLE protocol to allowthe audio device 135 to still be detected. As will be described indetail below, when the audio device 135 is in the sleep state, the audiodevice 135 may perform or otherwise participate in BLE advertisementoperations, but not implement the Bluetooth paging and page scanningoperations or the BLE scanning operations. In some examples, the sleepstate may be entered from the idle state after there has been little orno motion detected for a predetermined amount of time (e.g., 30 minutes,1 hour, 2 hours, etc.). The sleep state may be exited when the audiodevice 135 determines that it is likely to be used (e.g., a request isreceived from the source device 105, motion is detected, etc).

The idle state may be implemented when the audio device 135 has not beenin use for a relatively short amount of time (e.g., 1 minute, 5 minutes,15 minutes, etc). Similar to the relationship between the hibernatestate and the standby state, the audio device 135 may have recently beenset to the idle state after being used. The last used power state may beretained as the audio device 135 may again be used. For example, theaudio device 135 may be removed from a position corresponding to theready state (to be described below).

The ready state and the active state may relate to when the audio device135 is in use or is likely to be used. For example, if the audio device135 is placed in the user's ears (e.g., in the case of audio buds),placed over or around the user's head (e.g., in the case of headphones),etc., the audio device 135 may be in use or ready to be used. In anotherexample, if the audio device 135 is nearby or worn in an alternativelocation (e.g., when headphones are worn around the user's neck, whenaudio buds have a detected motion, etc.), the audio device 135 may belikely to be used. In view of the audio device 135 in use or likely tobe used, the connection operations with the source device 105 maycontinue so that the S2B link 120 or the S2D link 140 are maintained.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the sleep state maybe a low power state, during which the audio device 135 maintains aparticular power usage while the audio device 135 is not in use for arelatively long period of time. An objective of reducing or minimizingthe radio activity to a threshold while in the sleep state may provideimproved power conservation. As noted above, the different states may becategorized in a different manner, such as where the audio device 135 isin a case (e.g., ship, hibernate, and standby), not in use (e.g., sleepand idle), and in use (e.g., ready and active). Those skilled in the artwill appreciate that the most often used states are those related to notin use and in use. In between each use of the audio device 135, theaudio device 135 may be in the sleep state for a significant portion oftime. Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments provide a mechanism thatdefines how connection operations associated with an automated approachare to be used while the audio device 135 is in the sleep state.

With regard to establishing the short-range communication link, themechanism according to the exemplary embodiments may complete thisprocess using the operations defined by Classic Bluetooth. When theaudio device 135 is in the sleep state, the source device 105 mayconnect to the audio device 135 and cause the audio device 135 to exitfrom the sleep state. As noted above, the automated approach as used inClassic Bluetooth that allows the source device 105 to connect to theaudio device 135 requires that the audio device 135 implement activeBluetooth page scans while in the sleep state. These Bluetooth pagescans may be performed at predetermined intervals, e.g., as required byBluetooth. Performing the page scanning may consume power from the powersupply while the audio device 135 is in the sleep state. The exemplaryembodiments are configured to reduce or minimize power consumed whilethe audio device 135 is in the sleep state, e.g., by using differentconnection operations. While in the sleep state, the audio device 135may terminate all Bluetooth paging and page scan operations as well asBLE scanning operations, while maintaining only BLE advertisementoperations that can be used to detect the source device 105 (and for thesource device 105 to detect and/or signal the audio device 135).Furthermore, the BLE operations may also be modified as to when they areperformed to further reduce the power being consumed.

The audio device 135 may receive a scan request from the source device105, which can cause it to exit the sleep state. Furthermore, the audiodevice 135 may maintain a whitelist of allowed devices to which the S2Dlink 140 may be established. Thus, devices on the whitelist may triggerthe audio device 135 to exit the sleep state while devices not in thewhitelist do not trigger any action on the audio device 135 such thatthe audio device 135 remains asleep. Once the audio device 135 exits thesleep state, BLE operations (e.g., advertisement and/or scanning) andBluetooth operations (paging and/or page scan) may be performed. Byremoving the need to perform the Bluetooth paging and page scanoperations as well as the BLE scanning operations and further modifyinghow the BLE advertisement operations are performed while in the sleepstate, the radio of the audio device 135 may be used significantly less,which may result in improved power performance.

The exemplary embodiments may be configured with a fallback mechanism.As those skilled in the art will understand, the source device 105 maybe configured to utilize Classic Bluetooth, including the paging andpage scan operations, but may not be configured to utilize the BLEoperations of the BLE advertisement and BLE scan operations. As theexemplary embodiments utilize the BLE operations while terminating theClassic Bluetooth connection operations in the automated approach whilethe audio device 135 is in the sleep state, the audio device 135 may notbe configured to establish the S2D link 140 if the source device 105 isconfigured in this manner. Thus, the audio device 135 may utilize thefallback mechanism in which the audio device 135 may initiate aBluetooth page scanning operation. In some embodiments, this use of theBluetooth page scanning operation may be configured by a manual settingcontrolled by the user. Alternatively, the Bluetooth page scanning canbe automatically enabled. For example, the Bluetooth page scanningoperation may also be triggered upon occurrence of an event. In contrastto using a scan request received from the source device 105 that isconfigured to use the BLE operations, the fallback mechanism may triggerthe Bluetooth page scanning operation when a likely use of the audiodevice 135 is detected. For example, the audio device 135 may beequipped with one or more sensors (e.g., motion sensors, opticalsensors, etc.) that identify when the audio device 135 is likely to beused.

Returning to the mechanism according to the exemplary embodiments, afirst aspect may be when the audio device 135 enters the sleep state andsubsequent operations that are performed. The audio device 135 may be inthe idle state (e.g., from the ready state or the active state). Theaudio device 135 may detect when to enter the idle state based on avariety of criteria. Exemplary criteria include the S2D link 140 onlybeing used for control data; the audio device 135 no longer being wornon the user; the audio device 135 being placed on a stationary surface;etc. After entering the idle state, a determination may indicate thatthe audio device 135 has not been used upon entering the idle state fora predetermined (or threshold) period of time and is therefore to enterthe sleep state. The determination to enter the sleep state may be basedon the idle state. For example, the audio device 135 may determine thata current state is the idle state and that the idle state has beenmaintained for at least the predetermined amount of time (e.g., 30minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, etc.). In identifying when to enter the idlestate, the audio device 135 may determine via sensors that there is nouse or intention for use. For example, the sensors may indicate aposition or orientation of the audio device 135 on the user, whichindicates that the audio device 135 is in use (e.g., around the user'shead, in the user's ears, etc.) or likely to be used (e.g., around theuser's neck). In another example, the sensors may indicate motion of theaudio device 135. A lack of motion can indicate that the audio device135 is not in use, while select motions can indicate that the audiodevice 135 is likely to be used. The audio device 135 may utilizedetected motion individually or utilize motions in combination, e.g., tomake use or intent determinations.

Once the audio device 135 determines that the sleep state is to beentered, during the transition, the audio device 135 may perform one ormultiple operations. In a first example, the audio device 135 maydisconnect from the source device 105 and tear down the S2D link 140,when the S2D link 140 is still established. For example, the audiodevice 135 may have been removed from being worn by the user and placedon a nearby surface, but the user remains in a substantially similarlocation near the audio device 135. Thus, the S2D link 140 may still beestablished. In this instance, when entering the sleep state, the audiodevice 135 may tear down this existing S2D link 140. In another example,the audio device 135 may have been removed from being worn by the userand placed on a nearby surface, but the user has left the location suchthat the source device 105 is located outside an operating range of theS2D link 140. Thus, the S2D link 140 may have been severed by the timethe sleep state was to be entered. In this instance, the link may havebeen torn down before it was determined that the audio device shouldenter the sleep state.

When the S2D link 140 is torn down either from the audio device 135disconnecting the short-link communication link on entering the sleepstate or from the short-link communication link being unsustainable forany of a variety of reasons prior to the audio device 135 entering thesleep state, the audio device 135 may be configured to store hostconnection information associated with the last S2D link 140 between theaudio device 135 and the source device 105 (or some other source deviceto which the audio device 135 was connected). As will be described indetail below, the host connection information of the last S2D link 140of which the audio device 135 was a member may provide information whenthe audio device 135 wakes from the sleep state, e.g., based on sensordata as opposed to receiving a scan request from the source device 105.

In another example of operations performed upon entering the sleepstate, the audio device 135 may terminate the Bluetooth paging, theBluetooth page scanning, and the BLE scanning operations. Theseconnection operations may be performed in the automated approach toestablishing the S2D link 140. Because of the increased powerconsumption from using the paging operation and both scan operations,the exemplary embodiments are configured to terminate these operationsto further conserve power and reduce power usage by the audio device 135while in the sleep state. Accordingly, the BLE advertisement operationis performed in the sleep state so that the audio device 135 may stillbe detected by the source device 105. The exemplary embodiments aredescribed with regard to terminating the paging operation and bothscanning operations. However, the exemplary embodiments may also utilizedifferent selections of operations that remain or are used while in thesleep state. For example, there may be a fallback mechanism when thelast connected source device 105 is not configured with theadvertisement protocol under BLE. Thus, in the sleep state, the audiodevice 135 may still perform the Bluetooth paging operations. In anotherexample, the audio device 135 may select to terminate the Bluetoothpaging and page scan operations and maintain the BLE advertisement andscanning operations. The BLE scanning operation may draw less power thanthe Bluetooth scanning operation. Thus, the power conservation may stillbe improved from a conventional automated approach in the sleep state.

In a further example of operations performed in the sleep state, theaudio device 135 may transition the BLE advertisement operations from afirst interval to a second, longer interval. In addition to selectingwhich of the connection operations to perform, the operations that areperformed may be modified. For example, the BLE advertisement operationmay be modified from a standard advertisement broadcast interval (e.g.,181.25 ms) that is used prior to entering the sleep state (e.g., whilein the idle state, the ready state, or the active state) to a sleepadvertisement broadcast interval that is longer (e.g., twice as long at362.5 ms). By reducing the number of BLE advertisements that are beingbroadcast, the audio device 135 may further conserve power and reducepower consumption. The sleep advertisement broadcast interval may befixed, dynamic, random, etc. so long as the sleep advertisementbroadcast interval is longer than the standard advertisement broadcastinterval. The length of the intervals may be different from the examplesused herein. For example, the BLE advertisement broadcast interval maybe greater or less than the standard advertisement broadcast interval(e.g., 181.25 ms). The sleep advertisement broadcast interval may alsobe a different multiplier relative to the BLE advertisement broadcastinterval as well as be greater or less than being twice the BLEadvertisement broadcast interval (e.g., 362.5 ms).

The BLE advertisement may also be modified to change a portion of thepayload. For example, when the audio device 135 enters the sleep state,the BLE advertisement operation may generate the BLE advertisement witha payload that indicates the status of the audio device 135. In thisinstance, the payload indicates that the audio device 135 is asleep (orin a lower power state). When continuous BLE advertisements arebroadcast indicating that the audio device 135 remains asleep, thedevice receiving the BLE advertisement may conclude that the audiodevice 135 is not available to establish the S2D link 140. Thus, thisdevice may terminate transmissions to the audio device 135 (e.g., a scanrequest as described below).

The BLE advertisement operation may generate BLE advertisements that arescannable. That is, when properly configured, the source device 105 mayreceive the BLE advertisement being broadcast from the audio device 135during a BLE scanning operation being performed by the source device105. Again, if the source device 105 is not configured with theadvertisement protocol under BLE, the audio device 135 may revert to thefallback mechanism and utilize the Bluetooth page scanning operationinstead of generating and broadcasting a BLE advertisement.

In a still further example of operations performed in the sleep state,the audio device 135 may configure the transceiver 205 to receive scanrequests from the source device 105. That is, the audio device 135 mayutilize a passive receiving operation in which scan requests that aretransmitted from the source device 105 may be received by the audiodevice 135 while in the sleep state. The audio device 135 may alsoconfigure the transceiver 205 such that only source devices that are ina whitelist may be permitted to trigger operations in establishing theS2D link 140. The whitelist may be a manually generated list, anautomatically generated list, or a combination thereof. As a manuallygenerated list, a user may provide identification information to theaudio device 135 that indicates the different source devices that are tobe included in the whitelist. As an automatically generated list, theaudio device 135 may track previous source devices to which a respectiveS2D link 140 was established. The audio device 135 may therefore includethese previously connected source devices in the whitelist. Forillustrative purposes, it may be assumed that the source device 105 isin the whitelist. The operations associated with the whitelist may beperformed by, for example, a Bluetooth core controller, an applicationsprocessor, etc.

The audio device 135 may remain in the sleep state and utilize theselected operations in the modified manner until an indication isreceived or determined that the sleep state is to be exited. Once theaudio device 135 determines that the sleep state is to be exited, duringthe transition, the audio device 135 may perform one or more operations.As noted above, there may be multiple ways that the audio device 135determines that the sleep state is to be exited. In a first example exitapproach, the audio device 135 may utilize the passive receivingoperation in which a scan request from the source device 105 may bereceived, which may trigger the sleep state to be exited (e.g., if thesource device 105 is in the whitelist). In a second example exitapproach, the audio device 135 may determine a likely use of the audiodevice 135 by the user, e.g., based on sensor data from one or moresensors of the audio device 135. Each exit approach may entail acorresponding set of operations to be performed.

In the first example exit approach in which the audio device 135receives a scan request from the source device 105, the audio device 135may wake from the sleep state, enter the idle state, and perform aplurality of operations. In a first example, the audio device 135 mayidentify the source device 105 (e.g., based on an identity included inthe scan request) and determine whether the source device 105 is a knowndevice or is otherwise included in the whitelist. Initially, the sourcedevice 105 may be positioned to receive the BLE advertisement that isbeing broadcast by the audio device 135. Based on the BLE advertisement,the source device 105 may transmit the scan request to the audio device135. If the source device 105 from which the scan request is transmittedis not in the whitelist, the audio device 135 may revert to the sleepstate and continue the BLE advertisement operation with the modifiedinterval. If the source device 105 is in the whitelist, the audio device135 may then perform subsequent operations.

The subsequent operations may relate to the transition from the sleepstate to the idle state. In a first example, the audio device 135 mayrespond to the scan request and transmit a scan response. As notedabove, the BLE advertisement operation may generate the BLEadvertisement with a modified payload where the sleep state of the audiodevice 135 is indicated. To prevent the whitelisted source device 105from terminating a connection attempt with the audio device 135, thescan response may include an indication that the audio device 135 isawake and no longer in the sleep state (along with other informationsuch as identification information, control information, etc.). In asecond example, the audio device 135 may update the payload of the BLEadvertisement. Like the scan response, the audio device 135 may nowindicate in the BLE advertisement that the audio device 135 is in anon-sleep state (e.g., idle state). With the updated payload of BLEadvertisements, the scan response may be selectively utilized to updatethe source device 105 of the change in state of the audio device 135. Ina third example, the audio device 135 may update the interval in whichto broadcast the BLE advertisement. The audio device 135 may revert fromthe sleep advertisement broadcast interval of, e.g., 362.5 ms, to thestandard advertisement broadcast interval of, e.g., 181.25 ms. In afourth example, the audio device 135 may initiate the Bluetooth pagescan operation. As noted above, the mechanism used to establish the S2Dlink 140 may include operations used in Classic Bluetooth. Thus, theBluetooth paging and page scan operations may be used. Accordingly, thesource device 105 that has detected the audio device 135 and is nowaware that the audio device 135 is not in a sleep state may begin pagingthe audio device 135 using Bluetooth pages. The audio device 135 mayperform Bluetooth page scans to receive the Bluetooth page. In a fifthexample, the audio device 135 may set an interval in which to performthe Bluetooth page scan operation. For example, the audio device 135 mayuse a fast scan rate in which further Bluetooth page scans are performedrelative to a standard scan. The audio device 135 may use the fast scanrate for a predetermined amount of time or upon establishing the S2Dlink 140, thereafter setting the Bluetooth page scan to the standardscan rate. The audio device 135 may utilize these connection operationsfor a predetermined amount of time (e.g., 5 seconds, 10 seconds, etc.).If the audio device 135 is configured to perform further attempts, theconnection operations may be cycled again for the further attempts witha break time between each attempt. If the audio device 135 fails toestablish the S2D link 140, the audio device 135 may return to the sleepstate and update the connection operations.

In the second example exit approach in which the audio device 135determines a likely use, the audio device 135 may wake from the sleepstate and enter the idle state to perform a plurality of operationsbased on other operations that are being performed while in the sleepstate. While in the sleep state, sensors of the audio device 135 may bemonitoring and registering sensor data such as any/all of position,orientation, movement, etc. For example, if the sensors register theaudio device 135 being relatively stationary, there is a relatively lowlikelihood that the audio device 135 will be used. In contrast, if thesensors register a movement of the audio device 135 from a stationarystate, there is a relatively high likelihood that the audio device 135will be used. In another example, if the sensors register that the audiodevice 135 is now in a position corresponding to a likely use (e.g., onthe user's neck) or actual use (e.g., on the user's head, in the user'sears, etc.), it may be determined that the audio device 135 will beused. Thus, using the sensor data, the audio device 135 may exit fromthe sleep state to the idle, ready, or active state.

Upon entering the subsequent state after waking from the sleep state,the audio device 135 may perform a plurality of operations. For example,the audio device 135 may determine if a previous source device 105 towhich the audio device 135 had established a connection supports thefast scan rate. As the fast scan rate may be a feature of the connectionoperations in the Bluetooth standard that may not be implemented in allBluetooth capable devices, and when the audio device 135 is configuredwith the fast scan rate, the audio device 135 may dynamically set theBluetooth page scan operation with the corresponding page scan interval.Thus, if the previous source device 105 supports this functionality, theaudio device 135 may set the fast scan rate. Alternatively, if theprevious source device 105 does not support this functionality or atimer to use the fast scan rate has expired, the audio device 135 mayset the standard scan rate. Further operations may also be performed ina substantially similar manner as the first approach described above.Specifically, the BLE advertisements may be broadcast at a new intervalfrom the sleep advertisement (or low power) broadcast interval (e.g.,362.5 ms) to the standard advertisement broadcast interval (e.g., 181.25ms). The BLE advertisements may modify the payload to indicate the newstate of the audio device (e.g., non-sleep state).

In addition, in the second example approach, the audio device 135 mayperform Bluetooth paging operations. In the second approach, the audiodevice 135 exits the sleep state due to sensor data and not from anindication from the source device 105. Thus, in contrast to the firstapproach using the scan request, which is a substantially clearindication that the source device 105 is in position to establish theS2D link 140, the second approach using the sensor data relies on anassumption that the audio device 135 will be used and further assumesthat there is a source device 105 in position to establish the S2D link140 which triggered the sensor data to indicate a likely use. Therefore,the audio device 135 may further utilize Bluetooth paging operations totransmit a Bluetooth page to the source device 105, which is performingBluetooth page scanning operations. The audio device 135 may perform theBluetooth paging operations for a predetermined amount of time and forone or more cycles. For example, the audio device 135 may broadcast theBluetooth page for a predetermined amount of time of, e.g., 1 second, 5seconds, more than 5 seconds, etc. The audio device 135 may terminatethe Bluetooth paging operations early if the S2D link 140 has beenestablished. After the predetermined time, the audio device 135 may waitfor a short duration (e.g., 5 seconds, 10 seconds, etc.) and perform theBluetooth paging operations if configured to do so. For example, theaudio device 135 may use a predetermined number of Bluetooth pagingoperation cycles (e.g., 3 attempts, 5 attempts, etc.). If the S2D link140 has not been established, the audio device 135 may enter anunconnected idle state. As the audio device 135 awakened from the sleepstate for a predetermined reason (e.g., motion detected), the audiodevice 135 may enter the idle state and a timer may begin. The timer maybegin while in the idle state when the sensor data no longer indicatesthat there is a likely use (e.g., the audio device 135 returns to astationary disposition). When the timer expires (e.g., 30 minutes, 1hour, 2 hours, etc.), the audio device 135 may return to the sleepstate.

In another manner, the audio device 135 may reach an unconnected idlestate when the scan request is received but does not result in aconnection with the source device 105. Although there is a substantiallyclear indication that the source device 105 is in proper position toestablish the S2D link 140, the audio device 135 may still fail toestablish the S2D link 140 with the source device 105. For example, theBluetooth page from the source device 105 may fail to reach the audiodevice 135 during a Bluetooth page scan. As noted above, if the fastscan rate is used (e.g., the source device 105 is properly configured),the audio device 135 may continue to use the fast scan rate until apredetermined time associated with using the fast scan rate has expired,upon which the audio device may return to the standard scan rate. Usingeither scan rate, the audio device 135 may continue to receive theBluetooth page from the source device 105. Upon setting the Bluetoothpage scanning operation to the standard scan rate, the audio device 135may activate a sleep timer in which attempts to receive the Bluetoothpage from the source device 105 that transmitted the scan request areterminated. When the sleep timer expires, the audio device 135 maydetermine if there is a use indication, such as the use indicationcorresponding to the second approach (e.g., sensor data indicatingposition, orientation, movement, etc. to identify a likely use). If nouse indication is detected, the audio device 135 may return to the sleepstate and update the connection operations. However, if there is a useindication, the audio device 135 may enter the unconnected idle state,from which it can return to the sleep state after the timer associatedwith entering the sleep state from the idle state expires (e.g., 30minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, etc.).

The audio device 135 may determine that there is a likely use based onthe sensor data in a variety of ways. In a particular manner that may beimplemented according to the exemplary embodiments, the sensor data mayinclude corresponding thresholds. For example, when the sensor dataindicates a motion, the motion may be required to be above a motionthreshold. In this manner, the audio device 135 may exit the sleep statewhen there is a reasonable likelihood that the audio device 135 isintended to be used, rather than an inadvertent motion that the audiodevice 135 may experience.

The exemplary embodiments may also consider further features of theBluetooth protocol. For example, the Bluetooth protocol may include asniff connection. Those skilled in the art will understand that one typeof connection that may be used in the Bluetooth protocol is a sniff modethat is a power-saving mode where the audio device 135 is less active.The sniff connection may therefore be substantially similar to a sleepstate without actually being in the sleep state. Therefore, if there isa sniff connection, the audio device 135 may listen for transmissions atset intervals (e.g., 100 ms, 200 ms, etc). The sniff connection may alsoinclude a sniff anchor point that may take precedence over otheroperations. For example, the sniff anchor point may have a higherpriority over the BLE advertisement to re-establish a sniff connection.

As indicated above, the source device 105 may also establish the S2Blink 120 with the paired audio device 108. Since the paired audio device108 includes both the primary audio bud 110 and the secondary audio bud115, the mechanism described above may include further operations andmodifications to incorporate the secondary audio bud 115 and the B2Blink 125. The further operations and modifications may relate tooperations that are performed by the primary audio bud 110 which, asnoted above, is substantially similar to the audio device 135 relativeto the source device 105.

In a first example, the primary audio bud 110 and the secondary audiobud 115 may each be equipped with the sensors. Accordingly, the primaryaudio bud 110 may generate sensor data in a substantially similar manneras the audio device 135. Additionally, the secondary audio bud 115 maygenerate sensor data detected at the secondary audio bud 115 and maytransmit this sensor data to the primary audio bud 110 and/or to anotherdevice for further processing. In this manner, sensor data detected atthe primary audio bud 110 and/or the secondary audio bud 115 may be usedindependently or in combination to determine if it is likely that thepaired audio device 108 will be used.

In a second example, prior to entering the sleep state for the pairedaudio device 108, but after the determination has been made that theprimary audio bud 110 is to enter the sleep state (in a substantiallysimilar manner as the audio device 135), the primary audio bud 110 maydetermine if a secondary connection or the B2B link 125 is stillestablished. If the B2B link 125 has been torn down, the paired audiobud 108 may enter the sleep state and perform the connection operationsas described above. However, if the B2B link 125 is still established,the primary audio bud 110 may change the B2B link 125 to a sniffconnection with a use time interval (e.g., 500 ms or 4 watts pertimeout). Subsequently, the primary audio bud 110 may terminate the BLEscanning operations (as well as the Bluetooth paging and page scanoperations if not already done) to enter a coupled sleep state with thesecondary audio bud 115. The primary audio bud 110 may update the sniffsettings for the sniff connection and transmit this information to thesecondary audio bud 115 for its use. The secondary audio bud 115 maythen terminate the BLE scanning operations (as well as the Bluetoothpaging and page scan operations if not already done) to enter a coupledsleep state with the primary audio bud 110.

When the B2B link 125 is dropped (e.g., due to battery depletion,interference, range, etc.), the secondary audio bud 115 may beresponsible for reestablishing the B2B link 125, e.g., using a fastconnect process. In such a scenario, the secondary audio bud 115 mayenable BLE scanning operations and BLE advertisement operations (e.g.,broadcasting advertisements at 181.25 ms). The secondary audio bud 115may receive an advertisement from the primary audio bud 110 to which thesecondary audio bud 115 may transmit a scan request with intent toconnect along with a current status. The primary audio bud 110 mayfollow a process to exit the sleep state and start page scans along withother connection operations. The secondary audio bud 115 pages theprimary audio bud 110 and makes a connection. The primary audio bud 110may subsequently role switch the connection, enter sniff mode, and causethe paired audio device 108 to enter the sleep state using the abovedescribed mechanism.

While the paired audio device 108 is in the sleep state, the primaryaudio bud 110 may be configured to perform the BLE advertisementoperations and broadcast a BLE advertisement indicating a state of boththe primary audio bud 110 and the secondary audio bud 115. Since the BLEadvertisement from the primary audio bud 110 includes information aboutthe secondary audio bud 115, the secondary audio bud 115 may utilize thesniff connection to update the primary audio bud 110, e.g., with sensorand/or state information, such as a motion status, a battery level, etc.With the primary audio bud 110 being responsible for performing the BLEadvertisement operations, after a prolonged period of time in the sleepstate, the primary audio bud 110 may utilize a greater portion of itspower supply than the secondary audio bud 115, which only needs toupdate the primary audio bud 110 with the information noted above. Tomaximize efficiency and improve power usage between the primary audiobud 110 and the secondary audio bud 115 of the paired audio device 108,a coordinated bud swap may be used in which the secondary audio bud 115may become the master and the primary audio bud 110 becomes the slave.Therefore, the secondary audio bud 115 may take over the responsibilityof performing the BLE advertisement operations while the primary audiobud 110 may revert to providing update information to the secondaryaudio bud 115. Any subsequent swaps may be performed during the periodin which the paired audio device 108 remains in the sleep state. Thetrigger for initiating the role swap can be based on any condition(s),such as time, battery threshold, amount of power consumed over a period,etc. Further, the role swap can be performed at any time and the periodbetween role swaps need not be equal. The swap may be performed whenthere is no connection to the source device 105.

With regard to further operations performed when the paired audio device108 exits the sleep state, a substantially opposite set of operationsmay be performed from the above described operations when the pairedaudio device 108 enters the sleep state. For example, the primary audiobud 110 and the secondary audio bud 115 may initiate BLE scan operationsto establish the B2B link 125 beyond a sniff connection. Further detailsand an exemplary timing of when these further operations (for bothentering and exiting the sleep state) are performed when the S2B link120 and the B2B link 125 are used with the paired audio device 108 willbe described in further detail below.

FIG. 3 shows an example signal diagram 300 for disconnecting ashort-range communication link when entering a sleep state, according tovarious exemplary embodiments described herein. Specifically, the signaldiagram 300 illustrates an exemplary sequence of events that occur andsubsequent connection operations that are performed by the audio device135 and the source device 105 when the audio device 135 enters the sleepstate from a non-sleep state (e.g., active, ready, or idle state). Asshown, the signal diagram 300 may include the source device 105including a baseband processor 305 and a controller 310 as well as theaudio device 135 including a baseband processor 315 and a controller320. For illustrative purposes, the signal diagram 300 also relates towhen the S2D link 140 is established and subsequently torn down whenentering the sleep state.

In the non-sleep state, the baseband processor 305 and the basebandprocessor 315 may perform connection operations including Bluetoothpaging and page scanning operations, as well as BLE advertisement andscanning operations. For example, the baseband processor 305 maybroadcast a BLE advertisement 322 and perform a BLE scan 324. Thebaseband processor 315 may broadcast a BLE advertisement 326 and performa BLE scan 328. In another example, the baseband processor 305 mayperform a Bluetooth page scanning operation (not shown) while thebaseband processor 315 may also perform a Bluetooth page scanningoperation 332. In a further example, the baseband processor 305 maytransmit a Bluetooth page 330 while the baseband processor 315 may alsotransmit a Bluetooth page (not shown).

The connection operations may be performed at predetermined intervals.In a first example, when the baseband processor 305 or 315 enters a pagestate, the Bluetooth page operation may be performed to transmit aBluetooth page (e.g., the Bluetooth page 330). In a particularembodiment, the Bluetooth paging operation may be cycled every 10 ms inthe case of using 32 Bluetooth channels. In a second example, thebaseband processor 305 or 315 may be configured to utilize the Bluetoothpage scanning operation while in the current non-sleep state. In aparticular embodiment, using a standard Bluetooth page scanningoperation interval, the processor 305 or 315 may scan a Bluetoothchannel for a Bluetooth page for 11.25 ms every 1.28 seconds. In a thirdexample, the baseband processor 305 or 315 may be configured to utilizethe BLE advertisement operation while in the current non-sleep state. Ina particular embodiment, using a standard BLE advertisement operationinterval, the baseband processor 305 or 315 may broadcast the BLEadvertisement every 181.25 ms. In a fourth example, the basebandprocessor 305 or 315 may be configured to utilize the BLE scanningoperation while in the current non-sleep state. In a particularembodiment, using a standard BLE scanning operation interval, theprocessor 305 or 315 may perform a BLE scan for 10 ms every 100 ms.

The above noted intervals of the connection operations are representedin the signal diagram 300. The BLE advertisement 322 and the BLEadvertisement 326 may be broadcast every 181.25 ms. The BLE scan 324 andthe BLE scan 328 may be performed for 10 ms every 100 ms. The BLE scan328 on the audio device 135 may not be performed. According to anotherexemplary embodiment, the baseband processor 315 of the audio device 135may only perform the BLE advertisement operation (and not perform theBLE scanning operation). Accordingly, the baseband processor 305 of thesource device 105 may perform the BLE scanning operation (and mayadditionally perform the BLE advertisement operation). Once theadvertisement protocol indicates a detection between the source device105 and the audio device 135, the paging protocol may be used toestablish the S2D link 140. For example, the Bluetooth page 330 may becycled every 10 ms and the Bluetooth page scan 332 may be performed for11.25 ms every 1.28 seconds. Thus, the Bluetooth connection 334 (e.g.,the S2D link 140) may be established.

At a subsequent time, the controller 320 may determine that the audiodevice 135 may enter the sleep state 336. As described above, the audiodevice 135 may include sensors that generate sensor data that identifywhen the audio device 135 is no longer being used. For example, thepaired audio device 108 may be removed from a user's ears. In anotherexample, the audio device 135 may be placed onto a surface. When theaudio device 135 is not used, the controller 320 may initially place theaudio device 135 into the idle state (e.g., from the active or readystate). Once the idle state is entered, a timer may be activated so thatthe sleep state may be entered when the timer expires. For example, ifthe audio device 135 remains in the idle state for at least 2 hours (orother predetermined duration), the controller 320 may place the audiodevice 135 in the sleep state.

When the controller 320 determines that the audio device 135 is to enterthe sleep state 336, the controller 320 may forward a sleep stateindication 338 to the baseband processor 315 to tear down the Bluetoothconnection 334 (as the S2D link 140 is no longer needed). Accordingly,the baseband processors 305, 315 may utilize a standard tear downprocedure to disconnect 340 the Bluetooth connection 334. The signaldiagram 300 assumes that the Bluetooth connection 334 is stillestablished when the sleep state 336 is determined. However, asdescribed above, the Bluetooth connection 334 may have already been torndown for any of a variety of other reasons.

According to the first aspect of the mechanism according to theexemplary embodiments, when it is determined that the audio device 135is to enter the sleep state 336, the controller 320 may set how thebaseband processor 315 performs the connection operations when the audiodevice 135 enters the sleep state. As described above, in the sleepstate, the audio device 135 may terminate the Bluetooth paging and pagescanning operations as well as the BLE scanning operation while leavingonly the BLE advertisement operation. Thus, the controller 320 may set342 the BLE advertisement and forward a BLE advertisement indication344. The controller 320 may instruct the baseband processor 315 toterminate the other connection operations in a variety of manners. Forexample, the controller 320 may forward a separate indication (notshown) or may include the instructions in the BLE advertisementindication 344. Once the baseband processor 315 receives the BLEadvertisement indication 344, the baseband processor 315 may beginperforming the BLE advertisement operation by broadcasting a sleep BLEadvertisement 346 at an interval that is greater than a standardinterval (e.g., of 362.5 ms). The BLE advertisement indication 344 mayalso instruct the baseband processor 315 to update the payload of theBLE advertisement such that the sleep state of the audio device 135 isindicated.

FIG. 4 shows an example, signal diagram 400 for establishing ashort-range communication link when exiting a sleep state, according tovarious exemplary embodiments described herein. Specifically, the signaldiagram 400 illustrates an exemplary sequence of events that occur andsubsequent connection operations that are performed by the audio device135 and the source device 105 when the audio device 135 exits the sleepstate to enter a non-sleep state (e.g., active, ready, or idle state).As shown, the signal diagram 400 may include the source device 105including a baseband processor 405 and a controller 410, as well as theaudio device 135 including a baseband processor 415 and a controller420. For illustrative purposes, the signal diagram 400 also relates towhen the audio device 135 exits the sleep state based on a scan requestbeing received for the S2D link 140 to be established.

In the sleep state, the baseband processor 415 may perform only the BLEadvertisement operation at a modified interval. Thus, the sleep BLEadvertisement 422 may be broadcast every 362.5 ms which includes apayload indicating the sleep state of the audio device 135. At asubsequent time, the source device 105 may listen for advertisements sothat the source device 105 and the audio device 135 may detect oneanother. For example, the baseband processor 415 may broadcast a sleepBLE advertisement 426 that is received by the source device 105 during aBLE scan 428. The sleep BLE advertisement 426 may be processed and thesleep state of the audio device 135 indicated in the payload may benoted. The sleep BLE advertisement 426 being received may trigger thebaseband processor 405 to forward an advertisement indication 430 to thecontroller 410. The advertisement indication 430 may be processed by thecontroller 410 to trigger 432 a connection with the audio device 135.Thus, the controller 410 may forward a connection indication 434 to thebaseband processor 405. In the meantime, the baseband processor 415 maycontinue to broadcast the sleep BLE advertisement 436. The sleep BLEadvertisements 426, 436 are shown for illustrative purposes and thedistance between them is not intended to show an actual sleep broadcastinterval. Thus, the advertisement indication 430, the trigger 432, andthe connection indication 434 may not all occur during the intervalbetween two sleep BLE advertisements.

When the baseband processor 405 receives the connection indication 434,the baseband processor 405 may transmit a scan request 438 to thebaseband processor 415. As described above, the audio device 135 maypassively listen for scan requests from source devices that areattempting to establish the S2D link 140. When the baseband processor415 has received the scan request 438 from the source device 105, thebaseband processor 415 may forward a request indication 440 to thecontroller 420. The controller 420 may wake 442 the audio device 135. Inthis instance, the controller 420 may transition the audio device 135from the sleep state to the idle state. The controller 420 may thendetermine if the source device 105 is included in a whitelist of allowedsource devices that may establish the S2D link 140 with the audio device135, e.g., using the mechanism according to the exemplary embodiments.Assuming the controller 420 determines 444 that the source device 105 isallowed or is in the whitelist, the controller 420 may forward anallowed indication 446 to the baseband processor 415.

When the baseband processor 415 receives the allowed indication 446, thebaseband processor 415 may transmit a scan response 448 back to thebaseband processor 405. The scan response 448 may include an indicationthat the audio device 135 is no longer in the sleep state, but is in anon-sleep state such as the idle state, ready state, or active state.Furthermore, the allowed indication 446 may cause the payload of the BLEadvertisement to be updated such that the status of the audio device 135is now indicated as being in the non-sleep state. As noted above, theaudio device 135 may indicate the change in state to the source device105 using the scan response 448 or through the updated BLE advertisement(e.g., BLE advertisement 450). As the audio device 135 is not in thesleep state, the BLE advertisement operation may be performed using thestandard BLE advertisement interval of 181.25 ms. With the scan response448, the BLE advertisement may serve as a backup indication (e.g., ifthe scan response 448 does not reach the source device 105).

The scan response 448 (or the BLE advertisement 450) may cause thesource device 105 to perform the Bluetooth paging operation so that theS2D link 140 may be established. The audio device 135 transitioning outof the sleep state may also activate the Bluetooth page scanningoperation. According to an exemplary embodiment, the audio device 135may utilize a fast scan rate. For example, the fast scan rate may be oneor more scans each for 11.25 ms every 100 ms (versus a standard scanrate of 11.25 ms every 1.28 seconds). Again, the fast scan rate may beused for a predetermined amount of time before reverting to the standardscan rate. Thus, the audio device 135 may perform a fast Bluetooth pagescan 452 during which the source device 105 may broadcast a Bluetoothpage 454. Using a standard Classic Bluetooth connection procedure, theBluetooth connection 456 (e.g., S2D link 140) may be established.

FIG. 5 shows an example method 500 for disconnecting a short-rangecommunication link when entering a sleep state, according to variousexemplary embodiments described herein. The method 500 relates to whenthe audio device 135 is no longer being used based on a determinationfrom available information. That is, the method 500 relates to when theaudio device 135 is in a wake state (e.g., active or ready state), buttransitions first to an idle state and then to a sleep state after apredetermined time in the idle state. The method 500 includes theoperations associated with tearing down the S2D link 140 with the sourcedevice 105 as well as subsequent detection operations. The method 500will be described from the perspective of the audio device 135 inrelation to the S2D link 140.

In 505, the audio device 135 determines a state. As noted above, theaudio device 135 may be in any of a plurality of states, including anyof a ship state, a hibernate state, a standby state, a sleep state, anidle state, a ready state, and an active state. With regard to the firstaspect of the mechanism according to the exemplary embodiments relatedto entering the sleep state, the audio device 135 may note the idlestate and the sleep state. In 510, the audio device 135 determines ifthe state is the idle state where the audio device 135 is currently notbeing used. If the audio device 135 is not in the idle state (e.g., inthe active or ready state), the audio device 135 continues to 515 wherethe non-sleep state of the audio device 135 is used (e.g., active orready state). If the audio device 135 is in the idle state, the audiodevice 135 continues to 525 where the audio device 135 determines if anamount of time that the audio device 135 has been in the idle state isgreater than a predetermined threshold (e.g., 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2hours, etc.). Upon entering the idle state, the audio device 135 mayactivate a timer that corresponds to the predetermined threshold. Onexpiry of the timer, the audio device 135 may transition from the idlestate to the sleep state. If the audio device 135 has been in the idlestate for less than the predetermined threshold, the audio device 135continues to 515 where the idle state (a non-sleep state) is used. Ifthe audio device 135 has been in the idle state for at least thepredetermined threshold, the audio device 135 continues to 530, whichcorresponds to the audio device 135 in the sleep state.

In 530, the audio device 135 determines if the S2D link 140 is stillestablished. Despite the audio device 135 being in the sleep state, thesource device 105 may still be in position for the S2D link 140 toremain established. However, with the audio device 135 transitioning tothe sleep state, the S2D link 140 may be terminated. If the S2D link 140is still established, the audio device 135 continues to 535 to determineif there is a sniff connection. The sniff connection may be a low powerstate that is not the sleep state that is used by Bluetooth capabledevices such as the audio device 135. If the sniff connection ispresent, the audio device 135 may assume that the S2D link 140 is toremain established. Thus, the audio device 135 returns to 515.Accordingly, the audio device 135 may use the idle state with the S2Dlink 140.

If there is no sniff connection, this may be an indication that the S2Dlink 140 is to be torn down. Thus, the audio device 135 may continuefrom 535 to 540 where the S2D link 140 is torn down and the audio device135 continues to 545. Alternatively, returning to 530, the source device105 may no longer be in a position to support the S2D link 140 with theaudio device 135. For example, a user may take the source device 105away from the audio device 135 such that an operating distance of theshort-range communication link is exceeded. Thus, the S2D link 140 mayalready have been disconnected. Accordingly, the audio device 135 maycontinue to 545.

In 545, the audio device 135 is in the sleep state with the S2D link 140having been torn down, and selects the connection operations that are tocontinue being performed. For example, in some implementations, theaudio device 135 may terminate the Bluetooth paging operation, theBluetooth page scanning operation, and the BLE scanning operation.Therefore, only the BLE advertisement operation may remain. In 550, theaudio device 135 updates a payload of an advertisement to be broadcastwith the BLE advertisement operation. Specifically, the update to thepayload may be for the state that the audio device 135 is in currently.Thus, the audio device 135 may update the payload of the BLEadvertisement to indicate to any receiving device that the audio device135 is in the sleep state. In 555, the audio device 135 may update arate at which the BLE advertisement is broadcast using the BLEadvertisement operation. For example, the rate may be reduced. The BLEadvertisement may be broadcast every 181.25 ms. However, in the sleepstate, the BLE advertisement may be broadcast every 362.5 ms.Accordingly, in 560, the audio device 135 performs the remainingconnection operations and in 565, the audio device 135 enters the sleepstate.

The mechanism according to the exemplary embodiments with regard to adevice entering a sleep state may include further operations when thesource device 105 is interacting with the paired audio device 108. Themethod 500 may be used or modified to incorporate these furtheroperations with the paired audio device 108 and operations that may beperformed to accommodate the B2B link 125 and the secondary audio bud115. For the examples below, it may be assumed that the primary audiobud 110 performs the operations of the method 500 and is comparable tothe audio device 135 with regard to the relationship with the sourcedevice 105.

In a first example, the method 500 may incorporate further informationin performing 510. For example, it may be determined whether the audiodevice 135 is in the idle state. Similar to the audio device 135, theprimary audio bud 110 and the secondary audio bud 115 of the pairedaudio device 108 may each include one or more sensors that generatecorresponding sensor data regarding a respective use. If the sensor datagenerated by the primary audio bud 110 is equivalent to the sensor datagenerated by the audio device 135, the sensor data generated by thesecondary audio bud 115 may represent further information. Accordingly,the sensor data from both the primary audio bud 110 and the secondaryaudio bud 115 may provide information regarding whether the paired audiodevice 108 is idle or is in use or is likely to be used.

In a second example, the method 500 may incorporate a process in theprimary audio bud 110 that addresses the B2B link 125. Thus, after 560,there may be a determination as to whether the B2B link 125 is stillestablished. If the B2B link 125 is not established and has already beentorn down, the primary audio bud 110 may continue to 565. However, ifthe B2B link 125 is still established, the primary audio bud 110 maychange the B2B link 125 to a sniff connection with a use time interval(e.g., 500 ms or 4 watts per timeout). The BLE scanning operationassociated with the advertisement protocol used to establish the B2Blink 125 may then be terminated. Upon performing these operations, theprimary audio bud 110 may enter the sleep state.

In a third example, from the perspective of the secondary audio bud 115,when the B2B link 125 is changed to a sniff connection, the primaryaudio bud 110 may update the sniff settings (e.g., 500 ms or 4 watts pertimeout). The secondary audio bud 115 may then terminate the BLEscanning operation associated with the advertisement protocol used toestablish the B2B link 125. Upon performing these operations, thesecondary audio bud 115 may also enter the sleep state such that thepaired audio device 108 is in the sleep state.

FIG. 6 shows an example method 600 for establishing a short-rangecommunication link when exiting a sleep state according to variousexemplary embodiments described herein. Specifically, the method 600relates to when the audio device 135 is to be used based on receiving aninput or a determination from available information. That is, the method600 relates to when the audio device 135 wakes from a sleep state andthe associated operations used to establish the S2D link 140 with thesource device 105. The method 600 will be described from the perspectiveof the audio device 135 in establishing the S2D link 140.

In 602, the audio device 135 is in the sleep state. Thus, in anexemplary embodiment, the audio device 135 is performing the BLEadvertisement operation to generate and broadcast a BLE advertisement ata modified interval of 362.5 ms. The audio device 135 may also bepassively listening for scan requests. There may be a plurality of waysthat the audio device 135 may exit the sleep state to perform subsequentoperations including receiving a scan request and determining a likelyuse (e.g., based on sensor data).

In 604, the audio device 135 determines if a scan request has beenreceived (e.g., from the source device 105). With the audio device 135broadcasting the BLE advertisements, the source device 105 may havereceived the BLE advertisement during a BLE scan. The BLE advertisementmay include an indication that the audio device 135 is currently in thesleep state. However, the source device 105 may transmit a scan requestto the audio device 135 to attempt to establish the S2D link 140. If ascan request has been received, the audio device 135 may assume that thesource device 105 is in position to establish the S2D link 140. Thus, asdescribed above, the audio device 135 may exit the sleep state to anon-sleep state (e.g., the idle state) and, in 606, transmit a scanresponse to the source device 105 that transmitted the scan request.Prior to transmitting the scan response, the audio device 135 maydetermine if the source device 105 is an allowed device or in awhitelist of devices allowed to establish the S2D link 140. Thus, if thesource device 105 that transmitted the scan request is allowed and/orwhitelisted, the scan response may be generated and transmitted back tothe source device 105. The scan request may include an indication thatthe audio device 135 is no longer in the sleep state. When the audiodevice 135 receives a scan request and the underlying assumption thatthe source device 105 is in position, in 608, the audio device 135 mayset a fast scan rate (e.g., for 11.25 ms every 100 ms) to perform theBluetooth page scanning operation to listen for Bluetooth pages from thesource device 105. Additionally, the BLE advertisement operation may beupdated in view of the audio device 135 being in a non-sleep state.Thus, in 610, the audio device 135 updates the payload of the BLEadvertisement to indicate the current state as a non-sleep state and, in612, the audio device 135 updates the interval at which to broadcast theBLE advertisement. For example, the interval may be reduced (e.g., from362.5 ms to 181.25 ms).

In 614, the audio device 135 determines if a timer associated withperforming the Bluetooth page scanning operation has expired. As notedabove, the Bluetooth page scanning operation may be performed for apredetermined amount of time. For example, with the faster, moreaggressive scan rate, the audio device 135 may require additional powerto perform this operation. Thus, the timer may ensure that undue poweris not devoted to performing this operation. If the timer has notexpired, the audio device 135 continues to 616 where the audio device135 determines if a connection has been established. That is, the audiodevice 135 may have received a Bluetooth page from the source device 135and, using the Classic Bluetooth procedure, the S2D link 140 may beestablished. If a connection is established, the audio device 135continues to 618 where the audio device 135 is in the connected statefor the radio and the idle state (until a use or likely use is detectedto transition the audio device 135 to the active or ready state,respectively). If no connection results in 616, the audio device 135returns to 614 to continue tracking the timer.

If the timer for the Bluetooth page scanning operation using the fastscan rate expires, the audio device 135 continues from 614 to 620 wherethe audio device 135 reverts to a standard scan rate (e.g., for 11.25 msevery 1.28 seconds). While out of the sleep state, the audio device 135may continue to perform the Bluetooth page scanning operation using thestandard scan rate. However, there may be instances where the scanrequest was received but the audio device 135 will not be used and theaudio device 135 should be placed back to the sleep state (after havingbeen woken up from receiving the scan request). Thus, in 622, the audiodevice 135 starts a sleep timer to determine if the audio device 135 isto transition back to the sleep state. In 624, the audio device 135determines if the sleep timer has expired. If the sleep timer has notexpired, the audio device 135 continues to 626 where a determination ismade as to whether a connection has been established, e.g., byperforming the Bluetooth page scanning operation at the standard scanrate. If a connection has been established, the audio device 135continues to 618 to place the radio in the connected state and the audiodevice 135 in the idle state. However, if no connection has beenestablished, the audio device 135 returns to 624.

When the sleep timer expires, the audio device 135 continues from 624 to628 where the audio device 135 determines if a use indication of theaudio device 135 has been received. The use indication may be based, atleast partly, on the sensor data from the one or more sensors indicatingthat there is likely use of the audio device 135. As noted above, theone or more sensors may generate sensor data associated with any/all ofposition, orientation, motion, etc. When there is a use indication,e.g., based on the sensor data, the audio device 135 continues to 630where the audio device 135 maintains the idle state. Specifically, in630, the audio device 135 is in an unconnected idle state. At thispoint, a timer may be started to determine a length of time that theaudio device 135 remains in the idle state. The audio device 135 maytransition from the idle state to the sleep state when the idle statehas been maintained for a predetermined amount of time (e.g., 30minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, etc.). Thus, when the device is in theunconnected idle state, the audio device 135 may activate the timer(e.g., from the use indication being determined).

If the scan request does not result in a connection using the Bluetoothpage scanning operation under the fast scan rate or the standard scanrate and no use indication has been received, the audio device 135continues from 628 to 632 where the audio device 135 terminates theBluetooth page scanning operation. At this point, the audio device 135may determine that the audio device 135 is not likely to be used despitethe scan request having been received. Thus, in 634, the audio device135 increases the interval at which to generate and transmit the BLEadvertisement using the BLE advertisement operation. Also, in 636, theaudio device 135 may update the payload of the BLE advertisement toindicate that the audio device 135 is in the sleep state. Thus, theaudio device 135 returns to 602 where the audio device is in the sleepstate.

Returning to 604, if the audio device 135 does not receive a scanrequest, the audio device 135 continues to 638 where the audio device135 determines if there is a use indication of the audio device 135 (ina substantially similar manner as performed in 628). If there is no useindication, the audio device 135 returns to 602 where the sleep state ismaintained and the connection operations continue while in the sleepstate. If there is a use indication, the audio device 135 transitions tothe idle state and continues to 608 where the audio device 135 performsthe Bluetooth page scanning operation with the fast scan rate.

The mechanism according to the exemplary embodiments with regard to adevice entering a sleep state may include further operations when thesource device 105 is interacting with the paired audio device 108. Themethod 600 may be used or modified to incorporate these furtheroperations with the paired audio device 108 and operations that may beperformed to accommodate the B2B link 125 and the secondary audio bud115. For the examples below, it may be assumed that the primary audiobud 110 performs the operations of the method 600 and is comparable tothe audio device 135 with regard to the relationship with the sourcedevice 105.

In a first example, after 608, the primary audio bud 110 may initiateperforming the BLE scan operation to establish the B2B link 125(assuming the B2B link 125 is not established). That is, the primaryaudio bud 110 may utilize a set of operations upon waking from the sleepstate due to receiving a scan request. Since the primary audio bud 110is in the idle state and not in a sleep state, the primary audio bud 110may subsequently update the status of the B2B link 125 and acorresponding sniff rate for this short-range communication link.

In a second example, an opposite set of operations are to be performedif the primary audio bud 110 which has been awakened is to betransitioned back to the sleep state. Thus, after 636, the primary audiobud 110 may terminate the BLE scan operation for the B2B link 125.Subsequently, if the B2B link 125 is still established, the primaryaudio bud 110 may change the B2B link 125 to a sniff connection withcorresponding sniff settings (e.g., 500 ms or 4 watts per timeout).Thereafter, the paired audio bud 108 including the primary audio bud 110and the secondary audio bud 115 may return to 602 to return to the sleepstate.

The exemplary embodiments provide a device, system, and method for amechanism placing an accessory device in a low power state along withsubsequent operations to perform while in the low power state.Specifically, when the accessory device is determined to enter the lowpower state, the accessory device terminates select connectionoperations and retains other connection operations that are performedwith a modified interval. In this manner, the accessory device mayoptimize a power usage while in the low power state. The exemplaryembodiments also provide another mechanism for the accessory device toexit the low power state along with subsequent operations to performupon exiting the low power state. Specifically, when the accessorydevice exits the low power state based on receiving a request ordetermining a likely use, the accessory device updates the connectionoperations to establish a link with a source device.

Those skilled in the art will understand that the above-describedexemplary embodiments may be implemented in any suitable software orhardware configuration or combination thereof. An exemplary hardwareplatform for implementing the exemplary embodiments may include, forexample, an Intel x86 based platform with compatible operating system, aWindows OS, a Mac platform and MAC OS, a mobile device having anoperating system such as iOS, Android, etc. In a further example, theexemplary embodiments of the above described method may be embodied as aprogram containing lines of code stored on a non-transitory computerreadable storage medium that, when compiled, may be executed on aprocessor or microprocessor.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications may be made in the present disclosure, without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, it is intended thatthe present disclosure cover the modifications and variations of thisdisclosure provided they come within the scope of the appended claimsand their equivalents.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method, comprising: at a wireless device having ashort-range communication link with a source device, wherein, thewireless device operates in a first power state when the short-rangecommunication link is connected: identifying a condition related to thewireless device; placing the wireless device in a second power statethat is a lower power state than the first power state, based onidentifying the condition, and maintaining the short-range communicationlink connection in the second power state; starting a timer based onidentifying the condition; and when the timer reaches a predeterminedvalue, disconnecting the short-range communication link and placing thewireless device in a third power state that is a lower power state thanthe second power state.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein identifyingthe condition is based on input from a sensor of the wireless device.24. The method of claim 22, wherein the sensor comprises one of a motionsensor, an optical sensor or an orientation sensor.
 24. The method ofclaim 21, further comprising: when in the third power state,transmitting low-energy advertisements at a first rate that is a lowerrate than advertisements transmitted in the first power state or secondpower state.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the low-energyadvertisements comprise a payload indicating the wireless device is inthe third power state.
 26. The method of claim 24, further comprising:when in the third power state, suspending a scanning and paging activityof the wireless device.
 27. The method of claim 24, wherein thelow-energy advertisements comprise BLUETOOTH LOW ENERGY (BLE)advertisements.
 28. A processor of a wireless device having ashort-range communication link with a source device, wherein thewireless device operates in a first power state when the short-rangecommunication link is connected, the processor configured to performoperations comprising: identifying a condition related to the wirelessdevice; placing the wireless device in a second power state that is alower power state than the first power state, based on identifying thecondition, and maintaining the short-range communication link connectionin the second power state; starting a timer based on identifying thecondition; and when the timer reaches a predetermined value,disconnecting the short-range communication link and placing thewireless device in a third power state that is a lower power state thanthe second power state.
 29. The processor of claim 28, whereinidentifying the condition is based on input from a sensor of thewireless device.
 30. The processor of claim 28, the operations furthercomprising: when in the third power state, transmitting low-energyadvertisements at a first rate that is a lower rate than advertisementstransmitted in the first power state or second power state.
 31. Theprocessor of claim 30, wherein the low-energy advertisements comprise apayload indicating the wireless device is in the third power state. 32.The processor of claim 30, the operations further comprising: when inthe third power state, suspending a scanning and paging activity of thewireless device.
 33. The processor of claim 30, wherein the low-energyadvertisements comprise BLUETOOTH LOW ENERGY (BLE) advertisements.
 34. Awireless device, comprising: a radio configured to connect over ashort-range communication link with a source device, wherein thewireless device operates in a first power state when the short-rangecommunication link is connected; and a processor communicatively coupledto the radio and configured to perform operations comprising:identifying a condition related to the wireless device; placing thewireless device in a second power state that is a lower power state thanthe first power state, based on identifying the condition, andmaintaining the short-range communication link connection in the secondpower state; starting a timer based on identifying the condition; andwhen the timer reaches a predetermined value, disconnecting theshort-range communication link and placing the wireless device in athird power state that is a lower power state than the second powerstate.
 35. The wireless device of claim 34, the operations furthercomprising: a sensor providing input to the processor, whereinidentifying the condition is based on the input from the sensor.
 36. Thewireless device of claim 35, wherein the sensor comprises one of amotion sensor, an optical sensor or an orientation sensor.
 37. Thewireless device of claim 34, the operations further comprising: when inthe third power state, transmitting low-energy advertisements at a firstrate that is a lower rate than advertisements transmitted in the firstpower state or second power state.
 38. The wireless device of claim 37,wherein the low-energy advertisements comprise a payload indicating thewireless device is in the third power state.
 39. The wireless device ofclaim 37, the operations further comprising: when in the third powerstate, suspending a scanning and paging activity of the wireless device.40. The wireless device of claim 37, wherein the low-energyadvertisements comprise BLUETOOTH LOW ENERGY (BLE) advertisements.